Project SR Ultimate
by Captain Chibi Buckle
Summary: It has been ten years since their final battle with Sephiroth, and Cloud has long since taken over Shinra. On the final Shinra Project clean up, Cloud finds and unexpected Seph in the shinra mansion.
1. Default Chapter

This is a more serious fic, but I'll try to include humor. Well, actually, humor will probably welcome itself in whether I want it to or not. This also takes place ten years after the game. There will be no connection to Advent Children, as I have yet, of course, to watch it. So anyway, enjoy and expect more chapters. *FF7 and all its characters are not c/o of me, Sephrina is c/o of me though.  
  
The sun rose high above Midgar as Cloud opened his eyes, his vision focusing on the brunette beside him. She was already awake and looking out their bedroom window. "What are you looking at?" Cloud sat up. Tifa turned her eyes to him and smiled. "Just admiring her garden. I can't believe it still blooms every year." Tifa said. "We never take care of it." Cloud got out of bed and walked to the closet. He searched through the closet and pulled out a suit. "You know," He said, "it still feels weird wearing these." He eyed the suit. "Well that's what you get for taking over Shinra." Tifa said, pulling herself out of bed. It was true; Cloud had taken over Shinra, after his final battle with Sephiroth. Tifa walked over to him. "How long will you be in Nibleheim?" Cloud look back at her. "It shouldn't be too long. I just have to give the mansion a look over before it's torn down." "And that'll be the last thing you have to clean up from Shinra?" "Yeah." Cloud kissed her cheek. "I have to get ready and be on my way." "I'll pack your suitcase." Tifa said as she watched her husband walk to the bathroom.  
  
The plane hadn't been too long, but after the landing Cloud and six other men, five soldiers and scientist, still had to travel an hour or two to Nibleheim. All the way memories of trips there with Avalanche, that night he told Tifa he was leaving, and Sephiroth, who had once been his hero, raced through his head. One of the soldiers touched his shoulder. "Sir, we're here." Cloud look out of the truck's window at the small town, with the mansion getting bigger as they got closer. The sun had starting setting as the truck came to a stop in front the inn. "No time to bother with the mansion tonight. We'll go early tomorrow morning." With that said the seven men checked into the inn for the night. Cloud's room was shared only with the scientist. "Do you think we'll find another important there? It has been empty for so long." Cloud looked at his roommate. "I don't know. I think the most we'll find is old reports about the Sephiroth Project." The scientist nodded his head. "Well, see you in the a.m., Sir." "Goodnight." Cloud turned in his bed and shut his eyes.  
  
"Cloud." He opened his eyes and sat up. It was still dark, and the woman said his name again. Cloud searched for the voice, which continued to call him. Looking up, he saw it. A delicate hand, reaching down to him in the darkness. He reached towards her...  
  
"Sir?" Cloud opened his eyes. It was morning. "Time to go now." Cloud got up and dressed. He stepped outside of his room, where everyone was waiting on him. After a bit of breakfast, they headed to the mansion. It didn't look much different to him, save for more dust. One of the soldiers walked up to him. "Should we split up?" Cloud nodded his head. "No, the west side shouldn't be hard to go through, as with most of the east. We'll look through the first floor, and then head upstairs." After hours of looking through the rooms, searching for nothing, they came to the end of the east side, with one more room to go. One be one they filed in, Cloud in the lead. Through the sitting area first, then to the bedroom. The men looked around while Cloud walked up to the round, stone wall. "This way." Cloud opened the wall; the other men stepped curiously behind him. They headed slowly down the wooded planks, for fear that the age of the wood and the weight of the men would cause them to break. Then down the corridor to the doors. Cloud remembered Vincent. After the final battle Vincent had left the group without a final notice. Knowing that none of them knew where he went, Cloud opened the door to his left. It was a small, bare room, with Vincent's empty casket in the center.  
  
"Wonder who that was for?" One of the soldiers said. "It was Vincent's." Without explaining Cloud opened the only other door. This room too was just how Cloud had remembered, except with more dust than before. The men walked in and looked around. Stacks and stacks of books were piled on the floor, leaving the shelves empty in most places. The desks were still at either end of the room. Cloud glanced at the one with testing tubes and vials, and walked across to the other. He and the other men glanced at the titles. Most of the books were about the Sephiroth Project, others about the human body and chemicals. Cloud walked behind the desk and looked at untouched books on the shelf. Biology, The Human Brain, The Scientific Method, Project SR Ultimate. "What?" Cloud mouthed to himself, reaching for the book. As he pulled it off the shelf, a click was heard in the room. The six men looked up at him. Cloud looked at the shelf, and back towards the men. Their curiosity peaked; they walked over to him and looked at the shelf, then at the book. Cloud opened it. "It's blank, empty on all pages." Cloud looked at the men and set the book on the table. He turned back to the shelf, placing his hands on it. He looked up and down it, then walked to one side and gave it a push. Nothing happened. Stepping back, he looked at it once more, then walked to the other side and gave that a push. The shelf moved slightly. Pushing harder, Cloud managed to create a small opening, with the other end of the shelf sticking out. "Somebody help me." The nearest soldier walked beside him and helped him pushed. The shelf moved easier this time, and the two men moved it a full 90 degrees. Everyone peered into the hole. The room it led to was black, with a small bit of light coming from the floor along the opposite wall. "Is there a light switch anywhere?" The scientist asked. Cloud and the soldier felt along the walls in the opening. "I think I found it." The soldier said, flipping a rather large switch up. The room was flooded with florescent lighting. The men all walked in with amazement. It was a hidden Shinra laboratory. In the center of the wall where they had seen some light earlier, a large, round thing was covered by black fabric. The wall itself seemed to be made of nothing but monitors. Cloud turned a full circle to look at the lab. To his left was a metal closet, beside the covered object. Along the next wall were two, long tables, each full of bottles, vials, tubes, liquids, pens, paper, and all the like. Set on that wall was a large chalk board. Nothing was on it, so Cloud continued to look. On the wall where the entrance were books and tapes filling multiple shelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling, with a large ladder attached to reach all levels of the shelves. Cloud looked on. The next wall was empty, but there were electronic equipment for recording and viewing the tapes most likely. Finally, on the opposite side of the covered object was a single metal desk, with a computer and several journals. "Wow, would you get a load of this place?" One soldier said. "I wondered who used it?" The scientist asked. Cloud turned his attention back to the shelves. He walked up to the ladder and climbed up three or four shelves. He looked around. This side had all of the tapes, and it looked like there were hundreds and hundreds of them. "They all say Project SR Ultimate on them." Cloud told the others. "Slide me to the other side." A soldier walked up and carefully wheeled the ladder to the books. "What do they say?" Another soldier piped up. Cloud looked. "They say the same thing, all of them." Cloud climbed to the top and pushed himself to the furthest corner, passing more Project SR Ultimate's. He looked down at the others. "I guess this is the beginning, so let's see what the project is." He quickly grabbed six books and tossed them down, without giving them a second glace. Then he grabbed the next one and set himself against the ladder. He flipped through the book first, to be sure it wasn't blank like the other one, then he turned to the first page. "This looks like it's about the equipment in here." Cloud said looking through the book. "Yeah, mines the same." A soldier said. "Sir?" Cloud looked down at the soldier furthest from him. "Who's Aerith Gainsborough?" Cloud looked puzzled for a moment, and then remembered that Shinra wanted to kidnap her, as she was the last Ancient. Putting his book back on the shelf, Cloud climbed down the ladder and took the soldier's book. Cloud flipped through the book, and found nothing but information about Aerith, right down to her blood type. He flipped towards the middle of the book and read journal entries. "The Ancient is in our hands once more, but I'm sure she'll figure out how to escape again. Hopefully we'll have her here a little longer than last time." Cloud turned a few pages and read on, everyone listened closely. "The Ancient, as I know escaped again, but two of the Turks brought her back this morning. This time we have double her dose of sleeping gas, so she'll be out long enough for some more testing and samples. We'll be taking some more blood samples, and this time we take her eggs. The whole process would be a lot easier if she would cooperate like the Seph – Clone does." A soldier walked up to Cloud and handed over his book. "This one is about the Seph – Clone," He's voice dyed down. "But..." Cloud looked in the beginning of that book. "...I didn't know you were a, a clone." Cloud remand silent for a moment's time, and spoke up. "I was tested on, like the other Shinra Soldiers at that time," He started. "but Hojo didn't create me like he did most of the other clones. I really just had the Mako injections." Cloud flipped through the book. "What's it say?" The scientist looked of his shoulder, and Cloud spoke up. "The Seph – Clone is working out nicely, I don't know what it is, but he seems different some how. It must have been the Mako I gave him, but it shouldn't have affected him any different. Maybe it's the influence that Sephiroth has on him." Cloud paused, and then continued. "Sephiroth, so far my greatest creation, and now he will have a companion. Someone as powerful as he. With the genes of the Ancient and the Seph – Clone, Project SR will be more powerful. SR will be powerful, SR will be ultimate, the only indestructible being alive. It will be my greatest creation." Cloud handed the books to the man closest to him, and shot up the ladder. He then pushed himself along the shelves and began looking for the first tape. "Project SR Ultimate 10, 9 ...5, 1!" Cloud came down the ladder and headed start for the electronic equipment. "Can any of you work with this?" The scientist walked up and took the tape. With the help of a soldier, they put it in the VCR and turned it on. The wall of monitors flicked on and off, save for one screen. They all walked up to that screen and watched. The screen created snow, then faded out and back in. Hojo was in the center of the screen, adjusting something on it. He stepped back. "Now to start the documentation of my project." Hojo grabbed a clipboard off of the desk and stood full body center on the screen. He flipped through the pages on the clip board before beginning. "My greatest invention starts today, at 10:00 a.m. I have collected all of the samples I need from the Ancient and the Seph – Clone. By mixing the samples with the proper ingredients from my lab, I will create a genetically enhanced being. The being will develop physically over a course of three or four weeks, but it will take years for it to fully develop mentally." Hojo turned and walked to a large tank full of a transparent liquid. "My creation will develop here, and will remain in this tank for at least ten to twenty years. It will probably take ten to fifty years at most," Hojo picked up a tube from a table in front of the tank. "as my embryo has already started to develop in the few hours that it has been created." Hojo smiled and looked at the camera. "I will have no way to tell what gender will be the outcome, but every minute of its life will be captured on cameras that will be monitoring it day and night. This will be a most powerful project. It will be another Seph." The screen blacked out and went to snow. The men looked at the tank, and cautiously circled it. Cloud walked up to it, and grabbed a hold of the black cloth. He started to pull on it slowly, and then with a sudden urge, he pulled at it hard. The black fabric fell heavy to the floor, and everyone looked inside the tank at a rather beautiful creature.  
  
Thanks for reading my fic! Please do a review, so I know how I'm doing. I hope to post the second chapter soon! Thanks again! 


	2. The Tank Creature

Yay! The second chapter! I'll try to make it so the format doesn't do what the last chapter did. Hopefully, it will work out. If not, sorries! So just enjoy this, okay? Okay!  
  
FF7 is not c/o of me, Sephrina is c/o of me.  
  
Her arms were stretched above her head, her wrists attached to a metal rod suspended from the top of the tank. A metal belt was around her waist, which was also attached to the rod. Her face was pointed towards the bottom of the tank, her eyes shut. She was dressed with a gown that could have once been white, though now it was stained by the liquid in the tank.  
  
"Wow, so she's like one of those, those test tube people, right?" A soldier asked. The scientist looked at him.  
  
"Well sort of, I suppose. Except, I'd imagined that she is more developed than that. I've never heard of one that lived this long. If she is a real test tube project, she'll die when she is taken out of the tank."  
  
"Not if Hojo created her." Cloud stepped up to the tank and touched it lightly. "Hojo was mad, I think he could have made this one flawless." Cloud studied her face. She looked like Aerith, save for her blonde hair.  
  
"Should we take her out?" One soldier suggested. Another piped up.  
  
"Yeah, let's see if Hojo's project was successful."  
  
"It's worth a try." The scientist studied the tank. "If she doesn't live, then we'll just dispose of her and the lab too." Cloud looked at him.  
  
"If she does live, I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining this one to Tifa."  
  
"Who said Tifa had to know about her?" The scientist asked. Cloud shook his head.  
  
"You don't know her, Tifa will know just by looking at me." Cloud stepped back and clapped his hands together. "Well, we should call out more men to come, until they arrive we'll stay here."  
  
Tifa walked around Cloud's desk and sat in his chair. She hated being left behind; especially since the Shinra building was so boring. It didn't take her too long to lose herself in a daydream about Cloud though. She smiled to herself as a soldier walked into Cloud's office. Tifa looked up at him.  
  
"Yes? Can I help you??" She asked him.  
  
"I just need your signature maim." He said.  
  
"Oh, okay. What for?" Tifa took the soldier's clipboard and signed her name.  
  
"The boss needs some more help out in Nibleheim. Guess they found something in that mansion." Tifa looked up at him.  
  
"Do you know what?"  
  
"Nope, never told us."  
  
"How many men does he want to go?"  
  
"Uh," the soldier scanned the paper. "He wants Broker and Tangs, their scientists from the third floor, and five to ten more soldiers. They must have a big mess to clean up."  
  
"Okay then, send Broker and tangs, and nine soldiers."  
  
"Why the nine, if I may ask?"  
  
"I'm going." The soldier looked at Tifa. "I don't think Cloud wanted that. I'm sure it's just a big mess, maybe part of the mansion already fell down and they need the extra hands. No sense in you going." Tifa looked at the soldier.  
  
"I know Cloud told you to make sure I didn't come." The soldier was caught.  
  
"Yeah, he did, but why do you want to go? I still think it's just a big mess that has to be cleaned up."  
  
"Then what are the scientists for?" The soldier looked at Tifa as she walked out of the office. He never thought about that. He shrugged and followed her out.  
  
"Dinner!" The scientist walked into the lab. "I already gave the soldiers upstairs their food, so the rest is for us." He started passing out the dishes.  
  
"I wish I knew what was taking them so long to get here." Cloud took his food and started on it.  
  
"Actually, I talked to Tangs over the phone, and he said they should be here in another hour." Cloud looked up at him.  
  
"Oh good then." He looked back at the tank. "Maybe Tangs and Broker will know what to do about her." The scientist sat beside Cloud.  
  
"Yeah me too," he started, "because I'm not sure were to start."  
  
The hour seemed to take ages, when one of the soldiers came running down the stairs. He stopped in front of Cloud, panting.  
  
"Um, are they here?" Cloud looked at him.  
  
"Sir, your wife's with them."  
  
Yeah, so sorry this is a short chapter. The next one will be longer, and will have more humor in it. I hope you enjoyed, and those of you that reviewed the first chapter, thanks a bunch! 


	3. Tifa's Visit

Wow, my third chapter. ... SWEET! ^_^ So here's the plot, Tifa finds out about the project, things get awkward, and the project wakes up! Yay, enjoy!  
  
FF7 characters and places are not c/o of me, but Sephrina is c/o of me.  
  
"Sir, your wife's with them!" Cloud looked horror struck. He never discussed children with Tifa, but he knew how much she wanted one. And now he had one, just not with her. On the other hand, it really wasn't his fault that he was a dad, and oh God, his child is a teenager. Why are things against him?  
  
"Sir?" Cloud looked behind him at the soldier standing closest to the tank. "What about the Project here?" Cloud looked at the girl, and then turned his eyes toward the black fabric.  
  
"There's no way we can hid that, is there?" Cloud looked to his men, all of whom immediately straightened up. Silently cursing, Cloud turned to the door where his wife was standing.  
  
"Cloud," Tifa stepped in with amazement, "what is this? How did we miss this so long ago?" Her eyes turned to the tank. "Who is she?"  
  
Cloud started to sweat. "We, uh, we really don't, err, we haven't, uh, figured that, um, out yet..." Tifa met eyes with Cloud.  
  
"You're lying." Cloud panicked.  
  
"No honey, I'm not. We haven't..." Tifa put up her hand.  
  
"You stammered. Plus you called me honey." Damn, he was busted. Tifa walked up to the tank and examined the girl. "So who is she?"  
  
"She is a project that Hojo made about ten to fifteen years ago." Cloud walked up by Tifa's side.  
  
"While Avalanche was together?" Tifa studied her face.  
  
"I think it was started before we met." Cloud looked up at the project's face.  
  
"She looks like, Aerith, and ..."  
  
"Well we managed to find out the Aerith was used to create her. It seems that Hojo had Aerith here just long enough to get samples he needed from her for this."  
  
"Cloud?" He met Tifa's eyes, which had suddenly glossed over.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why does she look like you too?" Cloud stood there for a minute, thinking this over. After all, it really wasn't his fault, it was Hojo's. He didn't even know Aerith at the time. So why was he so worried? Tifa will understand and, wait a minute. Zack was around at that time, and Aerith had dated him...  
  
"Actually, it looks like Zack." Tifa looked puzzled.  
  
"Who's Zack?"  
  
"Don't you remember Aerith brought it up once? He was a Shinra Soldier when I was. Hojo used Zack for this project."  
  
"Hang on a sec," Tifa touched her forehead with her finger tips, "I remember Zack now. I took him and Sephiroth up to the Mako Reactor once. And you know what?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"SHE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE HIM! SHE LOOKS LIKE YOU! YOU WERE USED FOR THIS PROJECT AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN TELL ME THE TRUTH! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DAMN DIFFICULT? I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF, AND MY FEELINGS!"  
  
Cloud was pressed up against the tank, while most of the other men made excuses to leave the room. Hm, she brought up a good point.  
  
"Sorry, I, uh, I just didn't want, you, to uh, know." Tifa glared at him.  
  
"Cloud, why do you always have to leave me out of this stuff? I went through all the obstacles that Shinra made for us too. Stop trying to protect me all of the time."  
  
"Tifa, I'm sorry. It's just that," Cloud leaned forward towards Tifa and stopped. They both froze at the sound of a click. Cloud and Tifa looked down at his left hand. The men who were left in the room looked at the tank.  
  
"Oh God." Cloud lifted his hand to reveal a small switch on the tank. The rest of the men came back into the room. All watched as the liquid drained from the tank. It went swiftly, and all watched it go in silence. Another click was heard. Cloud stepped as the front of the tank swung open. The scientist Cloud came with stepped up beside him.  
  
"I hope she was ready to come out," Cloud looked at him, "because you just killed her if she wasn't." They looked back at the tank. The metal rod from which she was suspended had lowered the girl to where her feet were flat on the bottom of the tank. Her hands were released and she slumped forward, still attached to the rod at her waist. Another rod, more like an arm this time, came in from the side of the tank and injected turquoise liquid into the side of her head.  
  
"I wonder what that was." Broker asked aloud. Cloud knew what it was.  
  
"Mako." The girl's eyes suddenly shot open, and she stood up, her body square with Cloud's.  
  
"It worked!" The scientist looked on in amazement. The metal belt released itself and the girl stepped forward, but fell off balance.  
  
"Cloud catch her!" Tifa pushed him forward. He got a hold of the girl's frail body before she hit the ground and balanced her in his arms. She looked up at him, with eyes like his. Mako eyes...  
  
"Bring her out here." All of the scientists were squiring with curiosity now. Cloud stood the girl up on her own and, keeping a hold of her hands, walked her out of the tank. She started out slowly, but soon she caught on and sped up.  
  
"Let's see if we can find her name." Cloud ordered his soldiers to search, while the scientists examined her.  
  
"I'll see if I can't find her some new clothes." Tifa walked across the room, and spotting the closet, walked over to it first. Tifa opened the doors peered inside and immediately shut them. "Cloud, come here." Cloud walked over to her.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"What was she created for?" Cloud looked at Tifa.  
  
"Well, we haven't figured out that part, not yet."  
  
"Do you think Hojo wanted her for destruction?" Cloud looked between Tifa and the closet.  
  
"Well, it is Hojo's project, but why are you asking?" Tifa opened the closet. A long sword hung on the inside of each door. A black dress designed similar to Sephiroth's apparel hung inside with long, black boots resting in the bottom.  
  
"Okay," Cloud breathed in, "now I think I truly understand what Hojo meant by calling her the ultimate being." Tifa shut the closet again.  
  
"How do you know Hojo said that?"  
  
"It was on a video we watched." Cloud turned Tifa to the wall of books and videos. "He had every minute of her life recorded."  
  
"Oh wow, I didn't see that." Tifa gazed at the shelves as two soldiers walked up to them.  
  
"We've got her name Sir." Cloud straightened up and listened. "It's Sephrina."  
  
"Good." Cloud looked at Sephrina. "I wonder." Cloud walked over to her and the scientists.  
  
"What did they say her name was?" Tangs asked as Cloud walked up.  
  
"They said it was Sephrina." At the sound of her name, Sephrina turned to Cloud and spoke for the first time.  
  
"Sephiroth?" Her voice was sweet and kind and she looked innocently at Cloud.  
  
"That's what I thought." Cloud motioned for the scientists to huddle out of her hearing range.  
  
"Why, she can talk! Hojo may have been mad, but this is brilliant!" The first scientist said.  
  
"Yeah he was brilliant," Cloud said to them, "but now we have a problem."  
  
"What's that?" Tangs asked.  
  
"She knows about Sephiroth." Cloud said.  
  
"Yeah?" The first scientist looked at him.  
  
"Yeah, and it means Hojo managed to teach her about him." Cloud said.  
  
"Wait, you lost me. Explain this better." The first scientist scratched his head.  
  
"If I may," Broker started, "Smith it means that Hojo built her to aid Sephiroth, or he built her as a killing machine."  
  
"And Hojo made it so she knows what she's capable of?" Smith looked at Sephrina, who by now was exploring the room with her eyes.  
  
"Yes, and she's probably ready for her little 'mission'." Cloud said.  
  
"If she just now left the tank," Tangs suggested, "maybe it really isn't that clear to her, not yet anyway. And maybe we can come up with a way to talk her into forgetting what Hojo taught her, you know, find a way to block it in her memory."  
  
Cloud thought about it for a minute. Really, what would they have to lose?  
  
"Let's try it. If it doesn't work, we'll just have to get rid of her when we get rid of this mansion. And we'll have to try it now before anyone gets attached to her." Cloud clapped his hands together and looked over at Sephrina. He didn't move.  
  
"Sir, what's wrong?" Smith, Tangs, and Broker looked over at Sephrina who was engaged in conversation with Tifa.  
  
"And when we get you home we'll get you some new clothes." Tifa smiled at Sephrina, who smiled back.  
  
"And then I can learn to make cookies?"  
  
"Of course you can! I'll show you all of my recipes then." Sephrina smiled wider.  
  
"It sounds like fun." Tifa grabbed her arm and walked Sephrina over to Cloud, who was still stiff in his spot.  
  
"Cloud, we should hurry and get Rina out of these clothes and into something decent." Cloud looked down at her.  
  
"Rina?" Cloud looked at Sephrina. "Rina, who is Sephiroth?" Sephrina thought for a moment.  
  
"I can't clearly remember." She looked to the floor.  
  
"Great! Let's get her and Tifa out of here in an hour or less," Cloud's men straightened up, "then we'll take some of the books and videos back with us when I leave. This mansion is staying up until we sort all of this out. Okay then, let's go!"  
  
The soldiers starting pulling down books and videos, and three lead Tifa and Sephrina out of the lab. Smith walked up to Cloud.  
  
"How, uh, how did she do that?" He asked. Cloud turned towards Tifa, and then back to Smith.  
  
"I have no idea, best not to ask."  
  
Chapter three is done! I hope it was amusing for you, and as a note Sephrina will be know as Rina until further chapters. Look for friends and foes to return in the next chapter or so.  
  
Thanks for reading this! 


	4. Enter the Ancient Here

Okay, so it's taken me a long while to post, but I've been busy with school and work. Let's recap, quickly, Rina is headed home with Cloud and Tifa. She was created to take over the world with Sephiroth, but for some reason Tifa accidentally blocked her memory. Great job! Now let's see what happens at home!  
  
"How do you know when they're done?" Rina pressed her face against the stove door.  
  
"Rina! Not so close!" Tifa helped her stand up, "You just have to wait for the timer to go off."  
  
ding ding ding ding ding dong ding ding  
  
"Agh! They're done!" Slipping on oven mitts Tifa opened the oven door and carefully pulled out her creation. Once out of the oven she carefully examined each individual cookie. Biting her lip, Rina watched as Tifa placed the cookie on a baker's rack and measured each cookie's diameter. Next Tifa straightened up ad folded her arms. All was silent.  
  
.  
  
. .  
  
. . .  
  
"PERFECT!" With sparkling eyes Tifa and Rina took the cookies off the sheet and placed them neatly on a plate which was posed center on the kitchen table.  
  
"Wow! They look so good! When can I make some?" Rina asked with a smile.  
  
"Maybe later, but now you can help me cook dinner. It'll be so much fun." Tifa answered as Cloud walked in.  
  
"What are you doing? Hey cookies!"  
  
"No!" Tifa screamed as Rina dove for the table, lifting it above her head. Sweat drops appeared as Cloud and Tifa looked at her.  
  
"You can't have any until after dinner because it will ruin your appetite." Rina said sternly as she put the table back down with everything on top still in its place.  
  
"Man," Cloud said, "okay, I'll wait until later then."  
  
"Thank you daddy!" Rina kissed him on the cheek and went to Tifa's cooking aid.  
  
Whoa, daddy? Yeah, he wasn't ready for that.  
  
The ancient city was silent. Not a living creature lurked there as the sun shone on every inch of it. The city was truly a beautiful sight that no one living could admire, only lost souls looking for the life stream.  
  
Each soul in itself was truly a sight to see. A soft, shiny green, each one had lost most of they're identifiable features until they all were reduced to a mere blur. A small blur made its way slowly through the shells looking for the way out. Searching and searching it found a large shell sitting alone. Inside a clear staircase was found leading down. The presence of the life stream was strong here, and it descended the stairs and made its way into the water, searching.  
  
"That's not the way." A brown headed woman said as she stood dripping nearby. The blur stopped, taking in what she told it, then turned and left up the stairs with the woman close behind it. She stopped half way up and looked back for a moment, then turned and headed back up the stairs, her long hair dragging behind her.  
  
"I wonder if any of them will remember me."  
  
"Cookies and milk!" Rina handed Cloud a plate and a glass.  
  
"Thanks, these look really good." Cloud said.  
  
"They had better look good, those are my special recipe." Tifa said at the sink.  
  
"Guess what?" Rina stared straight at Cloud. Cloud looked back at her with a worried and confused expression.  
  
"Uh, what?" He carefully asked.  
  
"I get to go shopping tomorrow!" Rina jumped around the house. "It's going to be so much fun!"  
  
"What?" Cloud looked to Tifa.  
  
"I told her she could come to the store with me," Tifa started, "and she needs some clothes anyway so I thought we could get it all tomorrow."  
  
"Is that a good idea?" Cloud walked up to his wife. "She was just introduced to the world yesterday, maybe she should stay here, or at my office."  
  
"We'll be fine. We'll only be out for a few hours and we'll come straight home." Tifa said.  
  
"Okay then, now when you say 'we'," Cloud got worried again, "who are you referring to?"  
  
"We need some one to carry our bags Cloud."  
  
"Tifa! I hate shopping!"  
  
"You're coming with us."  
  
"Can't you take a body guard or something?"  
  
"You can be our body guard."  
  
"Do you know what happened to the last person that told me that?"  
  
"Sephiroth isn't hunting us down, so this will be different."  
  
"Yeah, it'll be worse."  
  
"Cloud, shut up and eat your cookies."  
  
"Of course, I just had to be stuck in the middle of nowhere." Aerith looked around her until she spotted a cozy little house, resting be itself. "Oh great! It looks like someone is home too!"  
  
She trudged through the snow and up to the house. Once at the door she knocked three times and waited with a smile.  
  
No one answered. She knocked again.  
  
Still no one answered.  
  
"Third times the charm." Aerith knocked again.  
  
No one answered. Aerith quickly lost her pertinence and began beating the door.  
  
"Hello!" She shouted. "Isn't anyone home?" The door slowly creaked open. A short purple thing in a hat looked up at her.  
  
"Hi! I haven't had company in years! C'mon in!" it said.  
  
"Thank you, I hope you don't mind if I could stay here for the night, maybe?" Aerith asked, following it in the door. "Well sure you can. Name's Chocobo Sage, what's yours?" the Sage asked.  
  
"My name's Aerith, pleased to meet you." She smiled.  
  
"Who's Aerith?"  
  
"Um," she started," I am."  
  
"Are what?"  
  
"I'm Aerith."  
  
"I don't know Aerith."  
  
"That's because we just met."  
  
"Who met?"  
  
"We did."  
  
"You and the Chocobo?"  
  
"No, me and you."  
  
"We what?"  
  
"Umm... hey! That's a pretty Chocobo you've got."  
  
"What's a Chocobo?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I can't quite seem to remember."  
  
"Erm..."  
  
Sorry, but this is it for today. Thanks for reading it and I promise to make the next better! Bye! 


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